Sum24 Culturally Responsive Teaching with ESCALA4

Summer 2024 Escala 4

Ethnic Studies 30: Introduction to Chicano/Latino Studies

Equitable / Grading/ Learning not Behavior

Reflection on Instructional Change:

The course data showed that I had 5 students in the DWF area, whereby 4 of them were “Hispanic” females. The majority of these students were not dropped by the Census date & were assigned F grades.

One practice I implemented was to change the Grading Scale. Prior to taking this FLC, I had a category (worth 200 points) for Attendance, Effort, & Participation. I changed this to an Ongoing Learning Connections Reflection (for the same amount of points). I selected this practice as a way to not “punish” students for submitting late work. I realized that, in the past, students were being penalized for submitting late work & I was not grading based on their demonstrated learning. This change advanced equity because I was no longer focused on behavior, learning style, or personality type—factors that can be biased. I notice that students have used it & my success & retention data is on target to be much better this time around.

As stated, I made the change to the course syllabus, but it also took form in the Canvas shell—as my course is fully online, synchronous. Under the Discussions tab, I created an Ongoing Learning Connections Discussions Board. This has become the designated area for students to ask questions, gain clarity, and also submit any late work or redos.

The feedback was very positive and encouraging. I was nudged to provide more clear instructions in the Discussion Board space and to also implement group activities connected to the Ongoing Learning Connections DB space.

**Evidence of Instructional Change**
Observe & Analyze: Grading Scale	Observe & Analyze: Ongoing Learning Connections DB

Before Course Syllabus: ETHN30 Chicano SP 2023.docx

After Course Syllabus: ETHN30 Chicano AFTER SYLLABUS FALL 2024.docx

**Faculty Bio:**
	Hello! I am Dra. Silvia Toscano, a Chicana Mexicana who is self-actualizing through ancestral, cosmic connections seeking to undo colonizing stigmas surrounding empowerment of feminine energies and creative expressions. My ancestry is rooted in Michoacán, Durango & Chihuahua, Mexico. I earned my PhD in Chicana and Chicano Studies from UCSB in 2016, and I have over 20 years of teaching experience at the community-college (as well as high school and university levels) where I center culturally relevant & responsive curriculum in the service of humanizing pedagogies of transformation. My recent scholarly works include being a contributing author and co-editor of In Search of Our Brown Selves: A Transdisciplinary College Reader (2021) as well as contributing author to Ignite: A Decolonial Approach to Higher Education Through Space, Place and Culture (2023):

Funding
	This work was supported by: US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project TECH4Equity US Department of Education Hispanic Serving Institution Project STEM4Equity P031C210012 *Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the US Department of Education.